Money money, money.
Let's dig into that most intriguing subjects - money.
Welcome back.
I'm David from Arc, the easiest way to find remote developer jobs.
So let's talk about money.
Money, money, money.
It's a crass subject I know.
But it's also one of the most discussed and most googled topics.
So let's get it.
Maybe it's new developers wondering where to focus their efforts, or maybe
the grass is always greener and everyone wants to compare with their friends
and colleagues about who's getting the most in that take home paycheck.
Does one tech stack pay more than another?
Does your framework choice make that much difference to your pay?
Does full stack mean more money?
What about remote work versus working in the office?
That's a current topic.
Is there a way to maximize your pay with your current stack?
And let's answer that most important question, which tech stack
would allow me to retire early.
So let's dive into all those subjects and find out.
Using our Arc's salary comparison tool, which I'll leave a link in the description
of this video or do a quick Google, you'll quickly see the salaries for comparable
technologies are relatively similar.
There are slight fluctuations for sure.
But a front-end developer specializing in React is not paid massively
disproportionately to someone specializing in Vue JS or Angular.
I guess the market controls this because there's an abundance of developer
specializing in these technologies and a thriving community behind them.
I do see slightly higher wages for Vue JS and Angular, but maybe
that's because React JS is currently winning the popularity contest.
The biggest fluctuations across web developer salary is
currently is still geography.
There's a gap between salaries inside the US and in other places
like Europe or Latin America.
Now that gap currently sits at around 25%, but it is closing.
It's early days so don't expect any drastic changes overnight.
In contrast, some tech stacks and roles are booming and prices are soaring right
now with average salaries paying 15% higher than pure web developer roles.
Roles that come to mind I think is related to big data and data science and devops.
While these roles may not be new, they are relatively new and data
is always going to be of interest.
So candidates with big data or data mining experience are
always going to be in demand.
Again, it's the market that's going to decide the rate cap, and there's lots
of interest in that field and lots of demand for candidates, but there's very
few people with relevant experience.
They are also roles with lots of responsibility and
therefore the money goes up.
In order to seal the deal and secure the role, employers are looking for evidence
of experience and certifications are certainly helping candidates to stand out.
Of course, salaries are not always fixed, and there's a lot
of factors that influence them and the market will always decide.
But what happens when I moved from junior to mid-level or if I finally
make that final step from mid-level to a senior developer, what can
I expect from my salary then?
Now this is a really difficult question to answer, but as a general
rule of thumb, I would add about 30% of your salary at each step.
Now, where things really start to get interesting is how do I maximize this?
Do I need to jump tech stacks in order to achieve a higher salary?
How can you ensure that you're commanding the right wage
for your current tech stack?
To move from one tech stack to another is generally exciting, but there
are a few dangers along the way.
Let me explain.
Some employers are not overly understanding that the skills you've
honed in one tech stack might be immediately transferable to another.
They may see you as sort of junior in that respect.
Once again, I'm not saying I agree with this.
I'm just trying to prepare you.
Moving to a new tech stack usually means moving to something, trending something
new, something, cutting edge right?
COBOL is looking good right now.
New and exciting usually means there'll be lots of interest.
Lots of candidates applying for a role might mean the salary starts to decrease.
However, it also means that most of those candidates won't
have the relevant experience.
And if you do, that's where the salary starts to go back.
Now most developers plead for the opportunity to showcase their
skills in a paid environment.
If you just give me the job I will learn really quickly.
I would encourage you to have something to show beforehand, no matter how trivial.
This shows passion, and passion wins, always.
Last but not least, we should mention the comfort zone.
You found your true love you and your chosen tech stack all worn in separately.
Then a new text that comes out and everybody leaves.
Now, if you stay put, you're playing the game.
Wait long enough and your salary will start to rise.
It may dip a little bit at first, but once the pool of candidates starts
to diminish, and it only takes a couple of years before employers are
concerned that your skills are out of date, now your salary gets spiral.
It's a double-edged sword though and that rule of a couple of years of not learning
something new now applies to you too.
So before you can make the leap into the latest trend, after earning a handsome
wage and your aging tech stack, you're going to have to pay your juice once more.
Fair is fair.
There're all ways to maximize your salary, even in a crowded market.
As always it's about standing out.
So whilst there might be lots of, for example, Node and react roles
out there in the market right now, there are also a lot of applicants.
To stand out, you need something extra.
In my experience, these roles always have something a little bit
extra in the requirements section.
It's possibly in the nice to have section, but it is there.
In the last few years it's been the push for service.
So those candidates with experience in tools like AWS Lambda or its competitors,
are the ones that are landing the roles.
Yes, there are lots of roles for your stack, but keep
adding to what your stack is.
Keep making your profile that bit sweeter.
So when you add new skills, showcase them, showcase them publicly if you can.
Convincing people you have the skills during an interview is
hard and everyone tries to do it.
And that just means you can't stand out by doing it that way.
Let's revisit our original question and apply what we've discussed.
Does one tech stack pay more than another?
Yes at different times, depending on trends, but playing the trends
games, like playing the stock market.
Big money to be made, but there's also big pressure.
And sometimes there's a lot of risk too.
I still think coffee script is great.
Does the framework choice make that much difference to the salary?
In my experience, not really, if there's more jobs, that
just means more competition.
So it's six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Does full stack mean more pay?
No, not in my experience.
From what I see the money tends to go up the more focused there is in a role.
Specialist win in this regard.
Remember our discussion about Node and React earlier?
You need to add on a speciality in order for your salary to go
along with your chances of success.
So in this example, we were talking about service.
So what about remote versus in-office?
There's a lot of demand right now for remote developers and the
search is widening if anything.
Remote pay is equal to in-office pay.
And for those being paid in a preferred currency, life is good.
With that search widening and totting up, employers are more
inclined to search for specialists, but they will pay for them too.
So the great question, which tech stack will allow me to retire early?
The answer is all of them, and none of them.
Go deep on any technology and there's money to be made.
Be the only remaining talented and outdated tech stack and
you're going to make great money.
Life isn't just about money.
Choose a stack you love and build cool things.
You'll still make a great salary.
But retiring early, that requires something extra.
So thanks for watching and thanks for joining me in this discussion
around developer salaries and how to maximize your earning
potential as a software engineer.
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I'll catch you next time.